Farmers Insurance and Team Rubicon Extend Collaboration through 2018

LOS ANGELES, March 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers Insurance®, one of the nation's largest multiline insurer groups, made another major commitment today to support America's veterans by extending its unique collaboration with Team Rubicon, a Los Angeles-based national nonprofit organization that unites the skills of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams. Farmers and Team Rubicon first launched their partnership in late 2015, integrating assistance from Team Rubicon's 43,000-strong veteran membership into Farmers robust disaster response efforts.

Today at Team Rubicon's headquarters, Jeff Dailey, chief executive officer of Farmers Insurance, and Keith Daly, chief claims officer for Farmers Insurance, announced the company's extension of the relationship through 2018 and presented a $500,000 check to Team Rubicon's cofounder and chief executive officer, Jake Wood.

"Farmers was founded by two World War I veterans, and our commitment to the military runs deep," said Dailey. "Our collaboration with Team Rubicon also creates business value by leveraging the skills of America's veterans and integrating our efforts to be there for our customers in their time of greatest need."

Farmers has long been an industry leader in disaster response. When a widespread natural disaster strikes, the Farmers specially trained Catastrophe Response Team, which celebrated its 20^th anniversary in 2016, deploys to affected communities where they provide front-line assistance. Part of the response often includes the use of one of the organization's Mobile Claims Centers or "CAT" (Catastrophe) buses, which puts Farmers employees and agents directly at the site to supply refreshments, hot meals, phones, Internet access, and sundry items to anyone in the community who needs help. In fact, Farmers literally "wrote the book" on disaster recovery for communities with the launch of the Disaster Recovery Playbook, a compilation of pre- and post-disaster best practices available at www.disasterrecoveryplaybook.org.

"The missions of Team Rubicon and Farmers Insurance align greatly," said Daly. "We both want to see communities recover quickly from disasters and get back to their normal routines as soon as possible. This is just another way we can help with responses in the communities where our customers live and work."

Team Rubicon will continue to support Farmers and their on-the-ground efforts. Farmers offers customers assistance in the areas of home repair and debris management, securing properties to prevent looting, searching for valuables and tarping roofs to avoid further damage. Team Rubicon will also support local authorities as requested with disaster readiness, relief, recovery and search and rescue missions. Up to 100 veterans at a time are deployed to an affected area.

"Disasters are our business, but veterans are our passion," said Wood. "Our collaboration with Farmers allows us to continue providing a better transition for veterans who are entering civilian life through service. Together, we can work to help communities return back to normal even faster and stronger than before."

Today's announcement is the latest in a series of recent honors and efforts that showcase Farmers passion for veterans, both as an employer and as a corporate citizen. Farmers is designated as one of the top military friendly employers by MilitaryFriendly.com. Additionally, Farmers signed a statement of support with the Department of Defense office of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), committing to seek ways to increase opportunities for guardsmen, reservists and veterans. Many of Farmers 22,000 employees and nearly 14,000 exclusive agents are military veterans, and Farmers has an active employee resource group dedicated to former military members. Team Rubicon also honored Farmers with its Veteran Advocacy Award for its commitment to employing military veterans as agency owners. In 2016, the nationwide Farmers Suits for Soldiers program culminated in employees' and agents' collection of more than 70,000 suits and pieces of business attire for veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce.

To learn more about Farmers' catastrophe response efforts visit www.farmers.com.

About Team Rubicon
Team Rubicon unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams. Team Rubicon is a nonprofit organization offering veterans a chance to continue their service by helping and empowering those afflicted by disasters, and also themselves. Programs and services are made possible by the support of individual donors, corporate partners, and the dedication of volunteers across the country. To join or support Team Rubicon's mission, visit www.TeamRubiconUSA.org.

About Farmers Insurance
"Farmers Insurance®" and "Farmers®" are tradenames for a group of affiliated insurers providing insurance for automobiles, homes and small businesses and a wide range of other insurance and financial services and products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with over 19 million individual policies, across all 50 states, through the efforts of more than 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees. Farmers Insurance Exchange®, the largest of the three primary insurance insurers that make up Farmers Insurance, is recognized as one of the largest U.S. companies on the 2016 Fortune 500 list. For more information about Farmers Insurance, visit Farmers.com, Twitter and Instagram, @WeAreFarmers, or Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.

SOURCE Farmers Insurance